Reaping and Sowing
by shadowcrow
Summary: At risk of losing his career Harry is faced with a choice,add in a fake mission, a talking dragon, some death eaters, a potion gone wrong, and a rather odd desire to see his brother-in-law without a shirt on . SLASH HP/CW, RW/HG, DM/OC, GW/NL


Reaping and Sowing

By: Shadowcrow

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, 90 some odd present of the other characters in this story, the world, and most everything else is not mine.

WARNING: This will eventually contain slash, a little gender bending, and other things that might offend.

"Will you please sit down Mr. Potter?" Harry had been friends with Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebot for more than a decade. They had fought side by side on more than one occasion and Kingsley had been a quest at Harry's dinner table more times than he could count. Kingsley had never, not even once called him 'Mr. Potter'. The oddity of it made Harry cautious and instantly tense as he took a seat in an armchair across the desk from the Minister. Kingsley didn't look up from his paper for a long moment, making Harry feel all the more awkward and alert.

"Will you please explain the front page of the _Prophet_ to me?" Kingsley mumbled, sliding the offending article across his desk. In bold, black lettering the headline, 'Boy-who-lived refused seat on the Wizengamot high council.' stared up at him from the paper. Harry flinched.

"You think they would have stopped calling me that by now." He groaned sliding the paper back. Kingsley looked less than impressed.

"That's not all," The man said, snatching up the paper. "Harry Potter, once a hero, by Ace Reporter Rita Skeeter." The large man read off the front page. Harry fought back a laugh.

"Is that woman really still alive?" He asked almost under his breath.

"This is no laughing matter; she calls you a fake, a sellout. You did your deed more than 10 years ago and are still living off the gratefulness of the wizarding community. She says the only reason your head of department of Aurors is because of contacts at the Ministry. That you don't deserve it." Harry sat dumb stuck in his seat. Rita Skeeter, that vile woman. Merlin's beard, couldn't she just retire already?

"Ok, what do you expect me to do about it?" Harry snapped, more defensively then he intended. Kingsley shook his head.

"You have to understand the pressure I'm under Harry." The man said, pushing a hand through his hair, Harry notices the bits of grey growing at the man's temples. "The Wizengamot was just the latest. That little uproar at the International Confederation of Wizards didn't help your cause at all; I had the press at my throat for a week because of that." Kingsley suddenly looked older than he ever had before. Harry say back, cold faced.

"They didn't want me to be a real member, they just wanted a mascot, a media outlet, I wouldn't have had any say, I wouldn't be able to make a difference one way or another." He said, arms crossed over his chest.

"I know that Harry, but unfortunately that's not how the papers have painted the situation. They call you spoiled, undeserving and uncaring, and that is how the population is seeing you right now. That's how the Wizengamot is seeing you and they are putting real pressure on me."

"You want me to parade around for them and pretend like I approve the decisions they make when I have no say in what they do?" Harry asked incredulously.

"No, they no longer want you as a member; they are pressuring me to fire you." Kingsley finally spat. Harry was shocked. His face remained placid for several seconds before contorting with frustration.

"You're going to fire me because I wouldn't be a puppet?" He demanded his voice rising.

"This is not my decision Harry, Please sit down." Kingsley's voice boomed. Harry then realized he had stood up and was leaning menacingly over Kingsley's desk. He sat, feeling flustered and close to panic. The injustice of the situation left him feeling helpless and irrational.

"You have done wonderful work here Harry." Kingsley said soothingly. "But if you're unpopular with the public I don't understand how you can keep you job."

"Easy, I'm not a public figure; I do my job and mind my own. I never wanted to be a public figure, I wanted to work, and have a normal life." Harry tried to focus and calm, it took all his years of training just to relax his fists.

"I know that, and we haven't had a better Auror in a long time, the crime rate and conviction rate has been the lowest in years, but you have to understand, if people don't trust you in office then all of that won't matter. Panic could spread, the Ministry will lose all of the trust it's been building up since Voldamorts fall." Kingsley spoke the truth, Harry knew it too. He didn't want it to cost him his job.

"What can I do?" Harry asked, feeling his last wave of anger give way to apathy and haplessness.

"I have a plan; if media can destroy your reputation then it can build it back up." Kingsley said, rolling back in his chair and standing up. Harry watched the big man walk to his dark wood cabinet and pull out an expensive bottle of brandy and two glasses.

Harry raised an eyebrow. Kingsley ignored him and poured two generous amounts into the tumbler then handed one to Harry. The younger man accepted the glass and threw back the entire thing with a sour face. He feared he might need it all at once to hear what Kingsley was about to tell him. The liquid burned pleasantly in his chest.

Kingsley brought his glass to his face but put it back down a second later, leaving it on the desk untouched.

"I have a mission for you." He said blatantly.

Harry fought exhaustion and frustration as he walked the steps to his house. The cute little two story ranch house had been Ginny's idea. The carnations and morning glories that lined the path from the door to the fence was her idea too. He could hear voices, Ginny's and then another woman's high laugh, followed by a male's answer. The words were too muffled to make out but the general tone was one of laughter and content. Harry was not in the mood for fun and laughter.

He opened the door with only slight hesitation. His first sight was his nine year old daughter sitting on the stairs and looking utterly miserable.

"Hullo Lilly." He greeted, steeping into the entry way of his home and slipping off his cloak. Lilly looked up grumpily, her face blotchy and tear streaked.

"Hi daddy." She sniffed.

"She had been crying all day." Ginny spoke from the doorway to the kitchen. Harry managed a half hearted smile for his wife.

"What's wrong darling?" He asked, turning back to his daughter. "Still upset about Hogwarts?"

"I wanted to go." She said with a wet sob. Harry dropped his suit case carelessly to the floor and sat next to the red headed girl.

"I know love." He said then gathered the girl into his arms. "And you will." He said gently rocking her back and forth. She quieted instantly. Ginny rolled her eyes. She had tried all afternoon to comfort her youngest child to no avail, dad comes home and suddenly the girl is quiet as the grave.

"Hey mate." Ron stepped into the entry way happily. That explained the males' voice Harry heard before.

"Hey Ron. How are you?" He greeted from the stairs.

"I thought with Rosy going off to Hogwarts this year I would have lodes of free time, but I can't stand all the quiet, its driving me metal." The tall man said gruffly. Lilly broke into a fresh wave of tears.

"Ronald!" Hermione's voice chastised from the kitchen. "Will you ever learn tack?" She asked harshly. She appeared behind Ron with a sour expression.

"Oh, sorry Lilly." He admitted, sounding sincere.

"Lilly, why don't you go set the table for dinner; I need to talk to mommy and your aunt and uncle." Harry asked, putting the girl on her feet. She nodded diligently and walked miserably to the kitchen.

"I didn't mean to make her cry mate." Ron started, Harry cut him off.

"It's not about that, I have something to tell you all, it's very convenient that you're all here." He said, pushing himself to his feet and motioning them all to follow him into the living room.

"Harry is this about the Prophet?" Hermione asked astutely, pushing her hair behind her ear and looking at Harry questioningly.

"What about the Prophet?" Ron asked looking slightly confused. Ginny looked at her husband and then at her brother.

"Yes, right as usual Hermione." Harry said then took a deep breath. "Apparently everyone thinks I'm a fraud. That I got my job, my contacts, and my life because of what happened with voldamort. "

"That's total bullocks." Ron muttered outrage plain on his face.

"Well that's what the papers are telling people. That I don't work, I just freeload on the ministries good favor." Harry said emotionlessly. Ginny's pretty face contorted in anger. Ron was silently turning red, and Hermione was looking dark and thoughtful.

"So." Hermione prompted.

"So, Kingsley has been getting pressure from the board to have me sacked." The words were like a punch to the gut. After so much, giving up hours and days with his family to make sure every last death eater was rightfully captured and given a fair trial, to make sure everyone got a just punishment. Of course his methods had never been really popular. Some thought that his insistence on a fair trial for everyone was a waste of time, the death eaters where obviously guilty, throw them in Azkaban and move on to the next case. Harry had refused; every single person captured with a dark mark was possessed and tried equally. He made sure of that.

Although his record quickly made up for his unorthodox practices, more Death Eaters in a year than any other Auror in history, including Mad eye Moody. Not five years after his promotion to head Auror did the papers proudly declare the wizadring world "DEATH EATER FREE." Now he was face with extremely early retirement because he refused to be a puppet for anyone. Where was the justice in that?

Ginny was giving him that very Molly Weasly, 'Are-you-kidding-me-'Look. He met her eyes trying not to show how truly frustrated he was.

"Kingsley is not going to sack you." Hermione said reasonably. "So what is his plan?"

"He is sending me and a team of my choosing on a field mission." Harry said simply.

"What would that accomplish?" Ginny asked. Her cheeks red and her voice betraying her anger.

"If the papers see Harry doing something very brave for the good of the community then he will be the hero again." Hermione explained. "The population loves him again and suddenly everyone wants him as our Head Auror."

"It can't be that simple." Ginny argued "People can't be that dumb, changing their mind's just because the paper said something or another."

"No." Hermione responded. "A person is smart, people are dumb. At Hogwarts, you remember, one minute he was the chosen one and the next he was spreading lies about Voldemorts return. It basically comes down to mob mentality." Hermione reasoned, her mind working, that thoughtful, calculating look in her eyes.

"Ok," Ron said. "What mission is Kingsley sending you on?"

"A bogus trip to investigate some strange things that have been reported in Romania, Kingsley thinks we can use the remote location to paint whatever picture we want to the British media. A team and I go down there, dink around for a while and "find evidence of dark wizards trying to tame dragons" or something equally ridiculous." Harry waved his hand dismissively.

"Sounds reasonable." Hermione said, still thoughtful.

"No, sounds like something a prat would do." Ginny said suddenly angry. Harry turned, surprised to his wife.

"You can't actually be thinking of doing this Harry." She almost shouted, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"It might just save my job." Harry said defensively glaring down at her.

"It would make a mockery out of your job, they call you a sellout, do this and you would be!" She snapped her words like a punch to Harry's gut.

"That's not fair and you know it." Harry spat.

"No, it's not fair, it's not fair that you worked so hard and a few people could take that away from you. It's not, but don't lose your morals over this." She said, she was crying now, her frustration something tangible in the air. Her fists balled and tense. Harry slumped helplessly into the sofa. He was not going to win this argument. She was right. He who preached justice and honesty was thinking about faking a mission to get back in the spot light. He felt like a fraud. Powerless to change the feeling he raised his hands to his head, a position of defeat.

"What am I supposed to do Ginny?" He asked. Ginny looked at her husband and wiped a tear with her sleeve.

"I don't know Harry, but this isn't even something the man I married would consider. Lying to the public for a bit of limelight."

"It's to save my job!" Harry argued. Ginny put up a hand.

"You better figure out what this job is worth to you Harry Potter." She said darkly. Hermione and Ron stared awkwardly. Ginny turned suddenly to Hermione.

"Help me finish Dinner Hermione?" She asked sweetly. Hermione nodded feebly and followed the red head from the room.

Ron and Harry sat in silence for a while before Ron turned.

"You're my best mate, whatever you chose I will support you." He said simply before leaving the room as well. Harry slumped further into the chair. Save the only job he ever wanted, the job he loved and worked so hard for, or lose it all for the sake of a moral high standing.


End file.
